Thursday, February 27, 2014

An expansion for Exodus - I. Technologies

It's time to reveal more details about the upcoming big expansion for Exodus: Proxima Centauri. We will do this over several articles, tackling the aspects of the enhanced game play one by one. Today I will talk about some of the new technologies.

WMD and protection

Many people wondered how come there was no response to the very damaging and amazingly fun Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). Well... those technologies were prepared for a long time but we did not find place for them in the base game. However, they are coming strong in the expansion.

The Space Defense System allows players to build space structures with the same name. The SDS allows players to defend the planet in the same hex against incoming WMD. For each WMD targeting that planet, the owner of the SDS will roll a die and on a result of 4-6 the WMD is destroyed in flight, failing to do any damage. Most players will have access to this technology.

There's also an advanced version of this technology called the Advanced Space Defense System (ASDS). The structure build with this technology will provide protection to the planet in the hex containing the ASDS and in every hex around it. Any incoming WMD is destroyed automatically if it targets the hex with the ASDS. If the WMD targets any neighboring hex, the owner will again roll a die and on a result of 4-6 the WMD is destroyed. This is a much more powerful space protection system and therefore more expensive to research and build and it will only be available to one or two players.

The Weapons of Mass Destruction will get an upgrade of their own, called Targeting Scanner. This technology will add 3 to the die roll of all WMD, making them a lot more accurate and increasing their range to a maximum of 8 (hexes distance).

And this is just the beginning... The Strategic Bombers technology will allow space ships to carry WMD and deploy them directly against planets in the same hex. The SDS will be of no use against this type of strategic warfare, but the ASDS will still provide protection.

High-Precision Scanners are mobile defense systems against WMD. With this technology, players will use their ships to target the WMD when they are launched or ready to hit their target. The space ships will use their cannons against WMD leaving from or targeting a planet is the same hex, but only a roll of 6 will allow a hit. it's going to be an expensive technology, but it will allow great flexibility in dealing with incoming strategic threats.

Space combat

This is another area of interest for may players since one can accumulate a lot of Victory Points through fighting enemy fleets. There are of course a few technologies enhancing the fighting capabilities of some of the players.

EMP Cannon is a completely new type of cannon. It is used in the first round of combat alone and it deals damage to all the ships involved in that battle. It deals no damage to ships with at least one Quark-Gluon Plasma Shield, it deals one damage to every ship with no QGP Shields but with at least one Multipolar Grid Shield and and it deals two damage to all ships without either a QGP or an MPG shield. Pretty powerful weapon, isn't it? On top of all that, it disables the standard cloaking devices of all ships.

The Quantum Scanners are probably the most destructive devices a space ship can have. They allow hits on 4+ on the attack dice for all cannons, instead of the standard 5+ roll. I don't think I need to stress the amount of extra damage a ship with Antimatter Cannons can do with the added Quantum Scanners. But that's going to cost and it won't be withing easy reach of everyone. You just need to be on the right side of those deadly cannons!

Well... I hope I stirred up your curiosity. It won't be long before you'll get to see more of the new technologies in the expansion of Exodus.